Due to my inability to control my temper and complacently accept continued silliness with not-quite-as-reliable-as-it-ought-to-be Blogger/Blogspot, your beloved Possumblog will now waddle across the Information Dirt Road and park its prehensile tail at http://possumblog.mu.nu.

This site will remain in place as a backup in case Munuvia gets hit by a bus or something, but I don't think they have as much trouble with this as some places do. ::cough::blogspot::cough::
So click here and adjust your links. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's one of those things.

Monday, April 05, 2004

The trip up to the Rocket City was blessedly uneventful, which is probably not good seeing as how I need some sort of distraction to keep from going to sleep. Rebecca was right there beside me, but she’d rather count traffic cones and car tags than talk about politics. We did talk about the game, and a variety of things that go through the mind of eleven year old girls, but a lot of it was still quiet contemplative time. Except for the time when she was silently engrossed in something out the window and I launched into the William Hung version of “She Bangs.”

As for roadkill, (for the benefit of Miss Meryl, who cannot read Possumblog now without thinking of roadkill due to my fine skills in describing it) it was pretty light--one big raccoon, and something that was large and looked like a coyote, but I could be wrong, and then, not much else. Either the maintenance crews have been busy, or the animals were staying home since it was Sunday.

Got to Huntsville right on time, found the Wal-Mart on Drake so we could stop and get her some Gatorade and me some snacks and soft drinks, then on over to Merrimack Park. Good thing I decided to bring a coat. We de-Focused and found that the wind was blowing about a billion miles an hour and it was darned cold. She changed into her cleats and we sat on the sill of the trunk to wait for everyone else to show up and to watch the adult team play. The old guys (and girls--co-ed team) were pretty good, and there was one guy who was quite accomplished. HOWEVER, he also had his kewl floppy hair up in a David Beckham little girlie topknot/ponytail. Which is fine, I reckon, if you actually ARE married to a British girl who was a pop singer. Otherwise, it looks a little, too…too, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the rest of the team started showing up so we moved on down to her field and the girls started warming up and the parents started freezing. We were taking on the Madison Shockers who seemed to be a very good bunch of girls who played well and played clean. And the referees were good, too. And the game? We were up 3-0 by the 20th minute. The girls did themselves proud--it was one of the best games they have played. They concentrated and played hard and played smart. There is one girl on Bec’s squad who, if she stays with soccer, you will see on television some day. Incredible athlete, even at eleven years old. She amazed me once during the game coming from across the field at a dead run to stop an attack--honestly, she moved with the power and speed of Bo Jackson. Which has to be pretty darned intimidating from head on. And Rebecca is pretty good in her own right, although much more deceptive-looking. She has a sort of upright gait, and doesn’t look like she’s moving that fast, but once during the second half she was playing center midfield and a ball got kicked past her to one of the other team’s players. Rebecca ran the girl down and caught her from half the distance of the field. Amazing. If they stay interested, and stay together as a team, they are going to be nearly unbeatable. The score stayed 3-0 for the rest of the game, and then it was time to turn around and head back for Trussville.

Got home at nearly 8:00, and sent her on up to get ready then heard Reba and the rest of the crew come in from evening worship and it was time to figure out something to eat. Reba was dead tired, and we didn’t have anything already cooked, so she suggested doing some scrambled eggs. I looked for some bacon or sausage, but it was all frozen and I didn’t want to wait, and then I stumbled across a couple of cans of salmon in the pantry. Hmmm. Hadn’t had salmon croquettes in a while--that might be kinda tasty at nearly bedtime!

I know the kids have had these before, but they acted like they were some kind of manna (no, not manatee) from heaven.

Drain salmon, rinse thoroughly while still in can, then remove all the gross-looking dark skin and squishy dark meat and the bones. Avoid retching. Seal garbage in Ziplock bag.

Place in glass mixing bowl, add eggs and seasoning and slowly add flour until mixture is smooth and beginning to get firm. This might be a couple of cups, but I just add flour until the mixture is smooth and beginning to get firm. Put some cooking oil in your skillet and let it get hot, then drop spoonfuls of the batter in and press them out into vaguely circularish shapes. Let brown, then turn once, and let the other side cook. Drain on paper towels.

Makes enough to feed a ravenous family of six, as long as one child does not sneak a couple without being seen.